{"nrhp_refnum":"07000294","name":"Centenary Methodist Church","other_names":["Centernary Memorial United Methodist Church"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"2585 NC 130 E, jct. with NC 2462","address_restricted":false,"city":"Rowland","county":"Robeson County","state":"NC","lat":34.492691766000064,"lon":-79.25142573699998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2007-04-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A rural frame Methodist church, now Centenary Memorial United Methodist Church, in the Cotton Valley area about four miles southeast of Rowland in southern Robeson County, North Carolina. Built in 1885 by church members and enlarged and updated in 1903, with an associated cemetery to the west.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the church is a fine example of a late-nineteenth-century rural church with an intact interior of diagonally laid tongue-and-groove boards and original window frames, pews and glass, updated with classically derived details in 1903. It is treated as an intact example of its type under Criterion C, and the cemetery is a contributing site.","narrative":"Built in 1885 by its congregation from timber cut from a nearby stand of virgin long leaf pine, this gable-front frame Methodist church stands in the Cotton Valley area of southern Robeson County, North Carolina. It was enlarged in 1903 with a vestibule, two flanking Sunday school rooms, a steeple, overhanging eaves, a cornice with returns and corner pilasters in the Classical Revival manner. The interior is lined almost entirely with tongue-and-groove beaded boards laid diagonally, with concave upper sidewalls where wall meets ceiling, and many original window frames, glass panes and hand-planed pews survive. The church is regarded as an intact example of a rural protestant church of its period. Its cemetery, to the west, holds about 160 marked graves, including the oldest dated 1883. The church ceased regular services in 1971 and is now used for memorial occasions.","period_of_significance":"1885-1903","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Classical Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Church no longer in active use, maintained by a memorial association and used for homecomings, weddings and funerals; the document describes it as in excellent condition.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:42.299932-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/32/7219/47721932/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/07000294.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/07000294/11785121d5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/07000294/11785121d5-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Gerry Dincher at Flickr","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Centenary_Methodist_Church_-_Rowland_North_Carolina.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Gerry Dincher at Flickr</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Centenary_Methodist_Church_-_Rowland_North_Carolina.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47721932","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centenary_Methodist_Church_(Rowland,_North_Carolina)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5059086"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/robeson-county/centenary-methodist-church-07000294/"}